WHERE WE STAND: America's health: It's not so super

Report illustrates how unhealthy living is shortening Americans' lives.

The nation's health may not be the best topic to broach on Super Bowl Sunday, which, in addition to crowning a new football champ and providing a venue for some of the world's most expensive TV commercials, offers an opportunity for one of the biggest pigouts of the year. Chicken wings, ribs, burgers, beer and other assorted tasty treats are on the menu today.

But it provides a timely lead-in to a recent report showing how unhealthy Americans are relative to the rest of the Western world. You can argue all you want about which country provides the highest-quality medical care. But there is no debating the point that America ranks near the bottom among its peers on far too many important health measures.

That fact was hammered home once again with the findings of a massive new report from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, which compared Americans' health with that of people in 16 other advanced countries. The United States came in dead last - literally - for men. For women, life expectancy at birth ranked 16th out of the 17 nations.

Males in three countries - Switzerland, Australia and Japan - outlive American men by nearly four years. Women in Japan outlive American women by more than five years.

Drawing on a variety of sources, the report pointed out that the United States fared worse than the average of the other advanced nations in each of these areas: heart disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic lung disease, disability, infant mortality, low birth weight, homicides, auto accidents, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, AIDS and drug-related deaths.

That's a long, troubling list, one that deserves a concerted response by health professionals, lawmakers and, most importantly, the American public.

There are any number of reasons - beyond our consumption of too many burgers and fries - why the United States ranks behind its wealthier peers in so many areas.

Our inefficient health delivery system is a major source of the problem. The report points to America's relatively large uninsured population and more limited access to primary care. "Americans are more likely to find their health care inaccessible or unaffordable and to report lapses in the quality and safety of care outside of hospitals," the study says. President Barack Obama's signature health care reform measure - Obamacare - was aimed at doing something about this problem.

But the report concluded that the U.S. "health disadvantage" was more a reflection of lifestyle choices, individual behaviors and "social pathologies" than of an inadequate health care system.

"Although Americans are currently less likely to smoke and may drink alcohol less heavily than people in peer countries," the report says, "they consume the most calories per person, have higher rates of drug abuse, are less likely to use seat belts, are involved in more traffic accidents that involve alcohol, and are more likely to use firearms in acts of violence," the report said.

Not to mention our sedentary lifestyle, one characterized by inordinate amounts of time spent in front of TV and computer screens.

Significantly, the report dismissed the common belief that the United States was behind other advanced nations largely because a relatively large segment of our population is uninsured or poor.

"Several studies are now suggesting that even advantaged Americans - those who are white, insured, college-educated, or upper income - are in worse health than similar individuals in other countries," the report said.

"The tragedy," it concludes, "is not that the United States is losing a contest with other countries but that Americans are dying and suffering from illness and injury at rates that are demonstrably unnecessary."

So what's the lesson? It's fairly simple, and certainly what we already know, but struggle to live by: Eat less food and healthier food - not just once in awhile, but every day. And be more active; get off the couch.

Saying it, making New Year's resolutions, etc. is the easy part. Doing it is the hard part.

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WHERE WE STAND: America's health: It's not so super

The nation's health may not be the best topic to broach on Super Bowl Sunday, which, in addition to crowning a new football champ and providing a venue for some of the world's most expensive TV